


(Boy)Friends

by TheFoolsKnightober (TheFoolsKnight)



Series: Flufftober 2020 [3]
Category: The Eldest Curses Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Camping, Cuddling & Snuggling, Flufftober, Flufftober 2020, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26794705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoolsKnight/pseuds/TheFoolsKnightober
Summary: Flufftober Day 3 - ToastyMagnus and Alec are out on a camping trip with their friends when Magnus is confronted by Clary about friendship and feelings.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Flufftober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948024
Comments: 6
Kudos: 81





	(Boy)Friends

The fire was crackling high that night. Magnus sat on one of the logs, Alec right beside him, and watched as Jace struggled with a kazoo.

“He’s so bad at this,” Magnus muttered to Alec, resisting the urge to cover his ears.

“I doubt you’d be any better,” Alec muttered back, and earned a jab in the ribs. It only made him chuckle.

“Give up, bro,” Simon drawled, shin propped up on one hand. “You’re  _ terrible  _ at this.”

Jace paused his work on the kazoo and scowled at him. “Just because you’re in a band doesn’t mean you look down on other’s natural talents.”

“I’m afraid your natural talents don’t lie in the kazoo,” Simon said.

Jace looked like he was about to protest, but then Clary stopped him by placing her hand on his arm. "Just forget about him. You're doing great."

"See!" Jace grinned, triumphant.

"Clary," Alec drawled. "Don't encourage him."

Magnus chuckled. “Biscuit, don’t encourage him. I know you two are in love but his kazoo skills are  _ horrible.” _

Clary snorted. “As if you and Alec wouldn’t do the same.”

“Actually, he’s roasted my charango skills several times,” Magnus said. "Perhaps things would be different if we were actually dating, but alas, we shall never know."

"Even if we  _ were  _ dating, I'd roast your charango skills every chance I got," Alec said, shooting Magnus a derisive smirk. 

Magnus laughed, albeit a bit awkwardly. It was no secret, at least not to himself, that he was extremely in love in his best friend, who simply had no idea about Magnus’s internal turmoil. Alec and Magnus had met sometime during the first week of school and became fast friends. Alec had been the first person Magnus had come out to, and vice versa. They'd had several sleepovers at each other's homes, had stayed up late binge-watching Netflix and exchanged hushed conversations at three in the morning. They'd given each other comforting hugs in school washrooms, hidden their laughter behind their hands in the middle of classes, had each other's backs throughout the years. And now, Magnus’s feelings threatened to upend all of that in a matter of moments. Which was exactly why he'd decided never to tell Alec about it. He'd rather still be friends with Alec than lose him for good.

A cold wind blew past at that moment, and Alec shivered, arms coming up to wrap around himself, despite the hot fire. “God, it’s cold.”

Magnus sighed. “I told you to bring an extra jacket.”

Nevertheless, he pulled off his uppermost jacket and offered it to Alec. “Take it.”

Alec spluttered in protest, but Magnus simply made an impatient sound and moved to drape the jacket over Alec’s shoulder himself. If his hands lingered a moment too long on the collar of the jacket, no one needed to know.

“I could’ve just gotten my own jacket, you know,” Alec said, but there was a small pleased smile on his face as he pulled the sleeves on.

The night went on, and it wasn't long before everyone decided to retire to their tents. Just as Magnus stood up, though, he heard Clary call out to him.

"Magnus!" she yelled, waving him here. "Can you help me hang up my bags?"

"Sure thing, biscuit." He turned to Alec. "You go ahead, I'll come in a minute, okay?"

Alec murmured something in agreement and headed for their shared tent, while Magnus followed Clary to hers. Jace was lying in the tent with the flap open, looking at his phone and paying absolutely no attention to Magnus as he hung up one of Clary's bags in the branches. The tents they had were the kind with a cushy floor, so they could directly sleep on top of it without resorting to sleeping bags. But it also meant that they needed more room, hence a few of the bags went up in the trees, while all the essentials would be inside.

"Why can't  _ he  _ do it?" Magnus grumbled, but it was all in jest. He didn't mind, really. 

"Because I'm not as tall as you are," Jace said, giving Magnus a dismissive wave. "Get to work now."

Magnus sighed and grabbed another bag, ready to hang it up, when Clary asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Go on."

Clary hesitated, biting her lip, and then blurted out, "Are you in love with Alec?"

Magnus froze. Then he blinked, and said in a voice as cool as he could muster, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You are, aren’t you?"

Magnus sighed, realizing that there was no escape. Clary could be very stubborn sometimes. "Okay, maybe I am. How do you know, anyway?"

"I had my doubts," Clary said, looking extremely smug with herself. "But I knew for sure when you gave him your jacket."

Magnus blinked. "I don't see what that jacket has to do with any of this."

"Well, it's just…" Clary shoved her hands into her pockets. "I have this belief that the kind of love you have for a person influences your actions, you know? Like, a good friend would walk all the way to the tent and back to fetch the jacket, but a lover would give their own jacket to the person."

"Sounds stupid," Magnus commented, hooking the last bag onto a bough. 

"It's not," Clary protested. "Simon used to offer me his jacket all the time, you know, when he was in love with me. Now Jace is the one who gives me his jacket, while Simon cracks jokes about it. Well, it does sound a little stupid, I guess, but-"

"Okay, whatever." Magnus shrugged, and then turned to look Clary in the eye. "But… don't tell anyone about my feelings for Alexander, will you?"

"I won't," Clary promised. They both turned to Jace simultaneously, but he had his headphones on and appeared to be watching a documentary about plants, and had clearly not heard much of their conversation, so Magnus let it go.

He waved goodbye to Clary and walked back to his own tent, which he shared with Alec and was located a few meters away from Clary's. When he reached there, it was to see Alec standing outside, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket, cold wind whipping his air.

"Alexander!" he chastised, stepping closer. "What are you doing out here?"

Alec shrugged. "I was waiting for you."

"You didn't have to do that!" Magnus reached out, brushing his fingertips along Alec’s cheek. "Look, you're all cold now."

Alec shuddered. "It's fine. You know my skin gets cold easily."

Magnus shook his head in exasperation. "Come on, let's go in now."

The two of them got into the tent, Magnus sitting on his knees on the floor-cum-mattress as he shut the flap behind him. Magnus turned back to Alec, and his voice got stuck in his throat.

Alec was sitting there, the zipper of his jacket open halfway to his chest, nervously fiddling with it while staring at some point on the ground. On one hand, he couldn't help but admire Alec's beauty - his jet black hair tumbling over that soft pale skin, delicate cheekbones that made him look like an angel, not to mention that he looked absolutely stupendous in Magnus's jacket. On the other, he was avoiding Magnus’s eyes, a small frown marring his face. Was something wrong?

“Alexander,” Magnus said softly. “Is everything alright?”

Alec jumped, blinked a few times in the dark, and then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”

Magnus frowned. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Alec assured him, then lowered the zipper all the way. Slowly taking off the jacket, he looked up at Magnus through thick eyelashes and said, “I’m just cold.”

“Oh.” Magnus watched as Alec carefully put the jacket aside, and then stretched, his arms going above his head. He turned away abruptly, pulling his gaze off Alec, and pulled off his shoes.

“Magnus?” Alec said in a low voice.

“Yes?” Magnus asked without looking at him, stowing his boots aside.

He heard rustling, and then a pillow thwacked him in the head, followed by Alec’s laughter. Magnus stared at his shoes for a moment, defeated, and then grabbed his own pillow, attacking Alec with a growl. Alec shrieked and attempted to shield himself with his own pillow, but failed. Magnus grinned, briefly stopping his onslaught to look at Alec, who had his arms up and was breathing hard. 

“Okay, fine, I surrender,” he said, grinning and breathless, and Magnus felt something like a firecracker explode in his heart. “You win.”

“Great!” Magnus exclaimed, falling onto the soft cushioned floor beside Alec, and pulled the large fluffy blanket over the both of them. “Let’s go to sleep now. We have a long day ahead tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Alec said, and to Magnus’s surprise, shifted closer to him. "Good night."

“Good night-“ Magnus broke off abruptly when Alec snuggled into him, throwing an arm around his waist. “Um, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, not that I mind, but there’s uh, plenty of space around.”

“Yeah, I’d rather not hog up all the blankets again,” Alec said, snuggling in closer, and Magnus tentatively wrapped an arm around him. “Also, I’d rather have you close.”

“Oh.” Magnus’s heart skipped a beat, but he didn’t dwell on it. It didn’t have to mean anything.

“Also, I heard everything you and Clary said. There aren’t any walls here, you know,” Alec added, looking up at him. 

Magnus froze. The tent seemed a little too warm all of a sudden. He tried to subtly wriggle out of Alec’s grasp, but Alec didn’t let him budge.

“And just so you know,” Alec went on, his eyes shining in the dark. “I’m in love with you, too.”

“Oh,” Magnus said softly, lying still in Alec’s arms. “Well, then-“

“We’ll talk about this tomorrow,” Alec said, and resting his head on Magnus’s chest, let his eyes slip close.

Magnus had no idea how Alec managed to find solace in that moment. He was bursting with life, Alec’s confession ringing around in his head.

Sighing to himself, he tugged the blanket up to their chins, wrapped both his arms around Alec and got comfortable, lulling himself to sleep as best as he could.

Tomorrow was a big day for him.


End file.
